{"id":44051,"date":"2022-03-13T12:38:03","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T11:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=44051"},"modified":"2025-01-28T15:36:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T14:36:23","slug":"ai-weiwei-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/ai-weiwei-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Ai Weiwei exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/weiweismall1.jpg\" alt=\"Weiwei exhibition poster\" class=\"wp-image-45672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/weiweismall1.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/weiweismall1-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The Viennese spring and summer have numerous exhibition treats for those interested in art: Hockney, Munch, Klimt and Cranach to name but four. The Albertina Modern tops the list with the most comprehensive Ai Weiwei retrospective to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Works span over four decades of creativity and commentary<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Over 140 works on display<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs Mar 16 &#8211; Sept 4, 2022<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/albertina-modern\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21859\">Albertina Modern overview<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"37363\">Art exhibitions<\/a> in Vienna<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In search of humanity<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"397\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/weiweiwork.jpg\" alt=\"Ai Weiwei; Surveillance Camera, 2010; Marble; Image courtesy of the artist; private Collection\" class=\"wp-image-44043\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/weiweiwork.jpg 397w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/weiweiwork-238x300.jpg 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 397px) 100vw, 397px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Ai Weiwei; Surveillance Camera, 2010; Marble; Image courtesy of the artist; private Collection)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Weiwei&#8217;s work has appeared in Vienna before; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/chinese-whispers-ai-weiwei\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"9662\">Chinese Whispers exhibition<\/a> at the MAK back in 2019, for example, featured the remarkable <em>Descending Light with A Missing Circle<\/em> and other creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>In Search of Humanity<\/em> exhibition at the Albertina Modern lifts things to another level, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ai Weiwei himself acknowledges the show as the largest retrospective of his work the world has yet seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a retrospective, it (of course) takes in the artist and activist&#8217;s full creative chronology with important works from each phase, whether paintings, films, photos, large installations, ceramics, or sculptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equally, a pervading theme is Ai Weiwei as commentator on both humanity and art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This role has seen him, for example, stretch out a middle finger (literally and figuratively) to authoritarianism, censorship, inequality, and corruption in its various forms around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Such an important figure in world art needs no further analysis or presentation from some minor travel writer like myself. But a trip around the exhibition leaves the impression of unbridled creativity and a burning social conscience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many works serve as a memorial to the victims of injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Others jolt the viewer out of their comfort zone, working like a stone in the shoe and refusing to let us continue in equanimity and obliviousness to the problems around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many poke subversive fingers at authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And some surprise: an abstract wall of Lego, for example, reveals itself as an observation on the Tiananmen Square protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tickets\">Dates, tickets &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Enjoy the Ai Weiwei retrospective from March 16th to September 4th, 2022. Simply purchase an entrance ticket for the Albertina Modern to see any of the exhibition(s) inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another event at the Albertina Modern overlapping with the Ai Weiwei exhibition is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/face-photo-exhibition\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"49454\">The Face<\/a>, featuring top examples from the institution&#8217;s extensive archive of portrait photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Albertina Modern lives in the refurbished <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/kuenstlerhaus\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"73350\">K\u00fcnstlerhaus building<\/a>, also home to the same-named artist association. So look for their exhibitions, too. For example, <em>Whiteness as Property<\/em> runs across the early part of the Ai Weiwei exhibition, critically exploring property relations in the context of racism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more contemporary art, pop over the road to Karlsplatz square from early summer: there should be a street art exhibition across the fencing that surrounds the construction site for the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sightseeing\/vienna-museums\/wien-museum\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"26812\">Wien Museum<\/a> building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get to the exhibition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>See the main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/albertina-modern\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"21859\">Albertina Modern overview<\/a> for travel tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1zfWanf5rPBbnTLLDuah2uixe-Nw\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Viennese spring and summer have numerous exhibition treats for those interested in art: Hockney, Munch, Klimt and Cranach to name but four. The Albertina Modern tops the list with the most comprehensive Ai Weiwei retrospective to date. In search of humanity (Ai Weiwei; Surveillance Camera, 2010; Marble; Image courtesy of the artist; private Collection) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-44051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44051"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79752,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44051\/revisions\/79752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}